


The Door to Life

by The_Great_Jester



Series: A Second Chance (Persona 3 AU) [1]
Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: AU where MC didn't pass away, Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Despair, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hope, Kingdom Hearts References, Ryoji saves the MC from becoming the Seal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27571249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Great_Jester/pseuds/The_Great_Jester
Summary: It has already been a month after Makoto Yuki and his friends fought Nyx, and succeeded to stop the Fall. But during the Graduation Ceremony, after fulfilling his oath of reuniting with them at the school's rooftop, he suddenly fell assleep. It's the time to pay the ultimate price for the miracle he achieved...
Relationships: Arisato Minato & Mochizuki Ryoji, Arisato Minato/Takeba Yukari, Mochizuki Ryoji & Yuuki Makoto, Persona 3 Protagonist/Takeba Yukari, Takeba Yukari/Yuuki Makoto
Series: A Second Chance (Persona 3 AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015344
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	The Door to Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there folks, I hope you enjoy this remake of the very first fanfic I've ever written.
> 
> WARNING: I sugest you to either play Persona 3, or at least be aware of its ending, if you don't want to get spoilers here.

03/05/2010

???

[Dive into the Heart -Destati- (Third Revival)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoFa-_hOf9Q)

Makoto opened his eyes while noticing he was at the top of a shaded blue glass pillar, depicting a picture of himself sleeping, holding his evoker and with four portraits of Ryoji, Elizabeth, Aigis and Yukari besides it. In front of the blue haired boy, there was a huge golden door and a golden statue of himself in a cross like pose in front of him.

"So… it's over... Koro-chan, Ken-kun, Mitsuru-senpai, Akihiko-senpai, Fuuka, Junpei, Aigis, and... Yukari... Everyone, goodbye..."

His heart and mind were made up, he was going to sacrifice himself to complete the Great Seal in order to save the world, but more importantly, to protect his friends and soul mate. However, he felt something grabbing his arm. It was Ryoji, the part of Nyx that befriended the blue haired boy.

"Look who'a finally here."

“Ryoji…? How can you be here?”

“Well, I used to live hidden deep inside of you for ten years, and we became close friends when I was still clueless of my true nature. I guess that because of that, our hearts are connected, even after we got separated.”

“That’s not what I mean. Why are you here? Now that I mention it, what is this place anyway? Is this some kind of Purgatory?”

“What? Am I not allowed to be alongside my best friend in his last moments? Although, you’re right that I’m here for another reason. But first, you asked me where are we didn’t you? Well, believe it or not, this is your heart, or more like a representation of your heart.”

“W-What did you just say? M-My heart? But how?” Makoto’s eyes were widened by Ryoji’s statement.

“Why don’t you take a look at the floor? That is clearly a picture of yourself. Everybody has an inner world like this, and everyone’s heart is represented by the person itself and closest people to their heart. Speaking of which, it’s quite touching that you included me here.”

The appraiser gently smiled, while Makoto was rather confused about Ryoji’s intentions, when suddenly a smaller white door appeared before them.

“What’s that door for?”

“I think you already know the answer, don’t you? Basically, I’m letting you choose which door will you pass through. If you choose the golden big door, you’ll use little life force you have left to complete the Seal and prevent the Fall… however, if you go to the smaller white door, that golden statue of you will disappear and return to you so you can wake up in the real world, but if you do that, Nyx will eventually return again to bring the Fall.”

“Then it’s settled. I choose the golden one.”

"You're as kind as always, Makoto... You're willing to give your life to grant them another chance. And that is why... I’m asking you to at least think about it and watch this.” The black-haired boy pointed at another direction where a mirror appeared.

After the blue-haired boy approached that mirror, a reflection of himself in the real world showed up before him. He was still sleeping, his heartbeats were gradually slowing, his life force was banishing, and Yukari was next to him, while Aigis was coming into the room.

“Yukari-san… Why don’t you get some rest? I can stay here this night.”

“No Aigis, I can’t. Not like this. You know what the doctors said. It’s been three days since he fell asleep... At this rate, he won’t wake up… What if he dies while I’m not by his side?!” Yukari couldn’t contain her sobs any more, she was scared for Makoto’s life, she kept crying and praying for him to stay alive, but no matter what she did, he would still not wake up.

“I know how you feel, but we have to believe in Makoto-san, just like he did for us when we fought Nyx.”

“Aigis…” Yukari noticed a trace of tears in Aigis’ cheeks, which shocked her.

“Right now, what I wish with all my heart… is that he wakes up, so you two can finally be together, and live happily.” The android said before closing her eyes and putting her hands together to start praying for their leader’s safety.

After hearing those words, the brunette remembered what Makoto told her when she was upset about her beloved father being apparently to blame for causing the Dark Hour. _“Maybe… you should keep believing in him, and not lose hope.”_

“Thank you Aigis. You’re right, we can’t… no, we mustn’t lose hope. We have to be strong and light his way back to us.” Yukari wiped out her tears before closing her eyes, and keep praying with Aigis, while the image from the mirror started vanishing.

[For Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_77q_dFi4Y&t)

Makoto was astonished and shocked by how his closest friends were already missing him and rooting for him to wake up, but also sad for not being able to fulfill that wish, not if he wanted to stop Nyx once and for all.

“Makoto…” Ryoji approached the blue haired boy before suddenly getting a punch in the face from him, sending the black-haired boy to the ground.

“You bastard! Do you think I want to leave them?! Do you think I want to die?! For so many years, I didn’t care whether I lived or died, but not anymore! I don’t wish to die… I want to stay with my friends forever… I want to be with Yukari forever… But I can’t let them die for my selfishness either! I have to do this, there is no other way.” Makoto started to yell and sob while he was going on. “And now, you appear just to make me doubt again, when I thought my mind was made up! DAMMIT!!!.”

“That’s why I came here…” the appraiser said with a gentle smile on his face while getting up.

“Huh?”

“I came here to tell you there IS another way, one where you don’t have to give your life, your hopes, nor your dreams to stop Nyx forever.”

“What?! That’s… that’s impossible… Igor said the only way was-“

“I’ll take your place.”

“No Ryoji, I can’t do that to you, this is something only I must do. I can’t put my burden on someone else’s back and run away to get my way while someone else has to pay.” The former field leader was surprised to hear what Ryoji said, but he still felt wrong to get his happiness at the expense of someone else, let alone a friend.

“Hey, don’t worry about me. My place is to be with Nyx one way or another, and besides, I wasn’t supposed to be human anyways, but thanks to you, I became humane, and I awakened to a new purpose.” After a brief pause taking in a breath Ryoji resumed. “To protect you, and all of the people that you hold dear with all your heart. Because you’re my best friend… So… just for once in my life… let me do something related to save my friend’s life so he can live happily with his beloved, instead of serving a Goddess of Death and Destruction.”

Makoto could notice both Ryoji’s sadness for being Nyx’s puppet, and his resolve to make thing right and pay his debt for the torment he caused both to him and his friends during December.

“Makoto, I promise Nyx won’t ever threaten you, your friends, your world, or Yukari again. I promise I’ll make sure she will never break free from this Seal, and so you can be sure of that, take this.” The black-haired boy pulled out from his sleeve a Death Tarot Card, and gave it to the blue haired boy.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a small portion of my power and my spirit. With this, even if I become the Seal, I will always be there to help you when you need it, as well as reassuring you whenever suspect about Nyx coming back.”

“Why Ryoji? Why are you doing all of this for me? Why do you care so much for me? Is this out of guilt for what we went through at December? Because if it’s for that, then don’t, we never blamed you for that, we knew it wasn’t your intention, and that you wished the best for us.”

Ryoji left out a chuckle before answering. “Well, I can lie and say I’m only driven by guilt, but there’s something more into that. Something that you should have already known, ever since I was still known as Pharos, because I’m your friend… So, I’ll ask you one last time, Makoto… Don’t you want to be with Yukari?”

Makoto left a tear slide through his cheek before answering with a gentle smile. “Yes… I want to stay with my friends, no… my family. And I want to be by Yukari’s side, for the rest of our lives!”

After spelling those words, Makoto’s golden statue vanished and turned into dusty particles of light that flew towards him, he was no longer a sacrifice for the Seal.

“Well, I should get going now.” The blue haired boy was about to go to the white door, until he saw two ghostly figures that appeared before him.

[Destiny's Union](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0xqz6NPutA&ab_channel=Jake)

“Makoto… we’re so proud of you…” A female voice whispered.

“Wait, that voice… It can’t be.” Makoto muttered.

“You found the Answer to Life, and found the courage to keep living on and standing up for the people you care for.” A male voice spoke this time. 

“Mom…? Dad…? Is it really you…?” The bluenette started to cry at the sight of both the spirits of his parents.

The mother caressed her son’s cheek to wipe out one of his tears, while the father put his hand on Makoto’s head to shake up his hair. After realizing they were real and not some illusions, the blue haired boy couldn’t help but to hug them, for the first time in the last ten years.

“You’ve become a great man, Makoto. We are both so proud of you, my son.” Makoto’s father said with a sincere smile on his face.

“Thank you, dad…”

“We both don’t belong to your world any longer, so we can’t return there, but you’re still at time to return and keep living your life and make your dreams come true.”

“I know…”

“Makoto, we’re sorry for having to leave you, for putting you through such a harrowing experience, for leaving you with such a heavy burden on your shoulders… for not being able to live by your side… for not filling you with love all these years.” Yoko’s eyes were glimmering out of regretless, after watching for so many years how much her child mourned their death.

“You don’t have to apologize. I thought that if I became like a blank slate, no one would care enough for me to suffer my absence, just like I wouldn’t care for anyone else to suffer their absence. But I never blamed you two.”

Both Masashi and Yoko’s eyes widened while Makoto went on with his speech with a face filled with tears of happiness.

“I admit that despite of my uncles’ kindness, I kept missing you for so long. After all I could never see you or feel your warming embraces and pokes on my forehead again. But now I understand, you two gave your lives so I could keep up living. And now I have friends I would give my life for, I also met Yukari again, we are even a couple now, and I love her with all my heart. If anything, I’m so happy and proud of being your son.”

The blue haired’s parents couldn’t contain their joy for their son’s words of acceptance and determination that they went straight to lock him in one last tight embrace.

“Makoto! Thank you for letting me be your mother! Thank you for letting Masashi be your father! And thank you for being born from us! Even if you can’t see us anymore, we promise to always be in your heart and look over you from above until the very end!”

“Makoto, there’s one last thing I couldn’t tell you before.” Masashi used his index and middle fingers to poke Makoto’s forehead with a gentle smile before telling him his last words. “No matter what you become… We will always love you, my son…”

After saying those words, Makoto made an oath to them with an enthusiasm he never thought he would ever show again. “I promise I will be as kind as you mom, and I promise I will be as cool as you dad.”

Once the blue haired boy finished, both parents faded away, and Ryoji approached him “Makoto, it’s time.”

[Always on My Mind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT6HJmZxeQI)

Makoto approached the white door to leave and wake up in the real world, but once he was right before it, he stopped and looked at Ryoji.

“Ryoji…”

“Hmm? What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re already regretting this. Or is it that you’re already missing me?” The raven-haired guy was teasing before he looked at Makoto’s sincere expression.

“Thank you, for my life…”

Ryoji smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Makoto was going to miss him, and still felt a bit guilty for leaving the responsibility of sealing Nyx to his best friend of all the people, but he decided to respect his decision, and was also aware that unlike Ryoji, he still had the choice to have a new life with his friends and Yukari.

Makoto stepped through the white door and a bright light was at the other side of the door.

“Makoto.” Before the door was closed, Ryoji called to his friend, once he looked back at him, the appraiser said “Take care of her.”

After Makoto nodded, the white door was finally closed, and Ryoji started to shine before disappearing, with a golden statue of him appearing in front of the door that would custody Nyx, until humanity itself stopped wishing for the fall.

_“Thank you, Makoto… living as your friend… made me… happy. May we meet again, in a better life.”_

* * *

Makoto opened his eyes, lied on his bed, inside of his room. He truly was back in the real world, back with his friends and his lover. Once he was about to get up, he noticed someone sleeping next to his bed, it was Yukari, who kept watching over him all these last days. The blue-haired boy thought about waking her up, but she looked so beautiful in her sleep that he preferred to wait for her.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too much, as he heard her yawning. The brunette couldn’t help but start crying once she noticed her boyfriend was awake.

“H-Hi.” He said with a joyful smile on his face.

“You’re so damn stupid! You dumbass! Do you have any idea how worried we were for you?! How scared I was at the idea of losing you?!” she said, assaulting her boyfriend and locking him in a tight embrace while sobbing on his shoulder. “Don’t ever do that to us again, you morron!”

[Sanctuary ~ After the Battle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILrb76PNGIk)

“Yukari…” Makoto gently leaned towards the brunette’s head. His lips made contact with hers. Little by little, their kiss grew deeper and rough, but also tender and sweet.

Meanwhile, outside of Makoto’s room, everyone in SEES was crying after they noticed their former field leader was finally awake after all these days his body was struggling to keep living, but didn’t want to interrupt this moment between him and Yukari, not even Junpei for once in a while.

“I knew my best friend wouldn’t die that easily.” Junpei said.

“Yeah, I believed he could pull through this. Isn’t that right Ken, Koro-chan?” Akihiko asked.

“Of course, Sanada-san.”

“Arf!”

“Koro-san said _‘Makoto-san is the strongest man I’ve ever met’_ , something I wholeheartedly agree with.” Aigis pointed out. “Now both Makoto-san and Yukari-san can finally be together, and that makes me so happy for both of them.” The android said while shedding tears of happiness for the reunion of the two most important persons to her.

“Once again, two hearts were reunited… it’s certainly a victory, and this one is for good.” Mitsuru said with an optimistic smirk.

Once the need for breath came out, both lovers were forced to pull apart from each other. But even separated they didn’t stop looking at each other. Makoto just needed one minute to realize how foolish it would have been to deny Ryoji’s offer, and leave Yukari and his friends heartbroken. But now, that didn’t matter anymore, because from this day on, he’s going to live a long and fulfilling life with the love of his life.

“I-I’m back!”

The brunette reached out to his hand with a tender smile. “You're home…”

_“They can take your world,_

_they can take your heart,_

_cut you loose from all you know._

_But if it’s your fate,_

_then every step forward,_

_will always be a step closer to home.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for keep reading until the very end. if you liked it, then look forward to my next works.
> 
> This work is dedicated to a very dear friend of mine, that inspired me the most to become a fanfic writter (and a ShuYuka enthusiastic). Although we aren't currently on the best terms, I truly hope we can still reconcile.


End file.
